After months of speculation, Los Angeles Dodgers star Yoshinobu Yamamoto was named to Team Japan’s roster Monday and will pitch in the 2026 World Baseball Classic.

Yamamoto joins Dodgers teammate Shohei Ohtani, who was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player in 2023 as a key member of the championship team. Now Samurai Japan boasts a potent 1-2 punch atop its rotation, one that should rival Team USA’s trio of Paul Skenes, Tarik Skubal and Logan Webb. Japan, which also won the tournament in 2006 and 2009, stacks up alongside Team USA and Team Dominican Republic as early WBC favorites.

While Yamamoto hoped to represent his country, there was concern over his heavy workload last season. The 27-year-old made a team-high 27 starts over 173 2/3 innings with 201 strikeouts, and finished third in National League Cy Young voting. He was even more dominant during the postseason, where he notched five more starts and six total appearances, including his title-clinching relief performance in Game 7 of the World Series.

Yamamoto addressed those concerns in a statement released by Samurai Japan.

“I’ve trained during the offseason to get myself in condition to compete at the WBC,” Yamamoto said. “Together with my fantastic teammates and our reliable staff, we will aim to be No. 1.”

Yamamoto made two appearances (one start) in the 2023 tournament, allowing two earned runs with 12 strikeouts over 7 1/3 innings. He logged four scoreless innings with eight strikeouts against Team Australia in pool play before coming in relief against Team Mexico in the semifinal.

Manager Hirokazu Ibata announced Japan’s roster at a news conference in Tokyo. “(Yamamoto) is Japan’s top pitcher, there is no doubt about that,” Ibata said to local reporters, including the Japan Times.

Eight major-leaguers will play for Japan. Ohtani announced his participation in November. Other players with major-league service time include Chicago Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki, Los Angeles Angels starter Yusei Kikuchi, Toronto Blue Jays infielder Kazuma Okamoto, Chicago White Sox first baseman Munetaka Murakami, San Diego Padres reliever Yuki Matsui and free agent Tomoyuki Sugano. Dodgers pitcher Roki Sasaki, who was a key WBC contributor for the 2023 team, will not play this year. St. Louis’ Cardinals Lars Nootbaar, who hit leadoff for Samurai Japan in 2023, is recovering from double heel surgery and also will not play in the tournament.

Team Japan has one spot open on its 30-man roster, and the belief is the final spot could go to one more major-league player.

The World Baseball Classic begins March 4. Team Japan is slotted in Pool C and will face Australia, Chinese Taipei, Czechia and Korea. The championship game is scheduled for March 17 at loanDepot Park in Miami.